Jonesboro Court Records
Jonesboro court records are maintained through Craighead County, where Jonesboro is the county seat. The Craighead County Circuit Clerk's office at 511 South Main Street keeps all circuit-level court filings, including felony cases, civil suits, domestic relations matters, and probate records. The city also has its own district court and a municipal court for city ordinance violations. This page explains how to search Jonesboro court records online, what each court handles, and how to get copies when you need them.
Jonesboro Court Records Overview
Craighead County Circuit Clerk
The Craighead County Circuit Clerk is the official keeper of all circuit court filings for Jonesboro. The office sits at 511 South Main Street, Room 200, Jonesboro, AR 72401. Phone: (870) 933-4520. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The circuit clerk maintains civil, criminal, domestic relations, probate, and juvenile case records. Jonesboro, as the county seat, hosts the primary courthouse for the Eastern District, so this office sees a large volume of filings.
Circuit courts handle the serious stuff. Felony criminal cases, divorce and child custody disputes, civil suits over $25,000, probate and estate matters, and appeals from district courts all flow through here. If you need a certified copy of a court judgment, a divorce decree, or a felony conviction record from a Jonesboro case, this is the right office. Standard copies cost $0.25 per page. Certified copies are $5.00 plus per-page copy costs. Bring a case number or the names of the parties to speed up the search.
For a full breakdown of Craighead County's court structure, visit the Craighead County court records page.
Jonesboro District Court and Municipal Court
Jonesboro has two separate lower-level courts in addition to the circuit court. The Craighead County District Court is at 511 South Main Street, in the same building as the circuit clerk. This court handles misdemeanor charges, traffic violations, civil matters under $25,000, small claims, and preliminary felony hearings. The Jonesboro Municipal Court Clerk is located at 410 West Washington Avenue, Jonesboro, AR 72401, and handles city ordinance violations and traffic cases specifically tied to the city code.
If you got a ticket inside the Jonesboro city limits for a city ordinance violation, the municipal court is the right place. If it's a state traffic law or a misdemeanor criminal charge, the district court likely has jurisdiction. These two courts sit in different buildings, so knowing which one filed your case will save time. Case records from the district court may appear in Search ARCourts, since Craighead County is a participating county in the online system.
Note: Municipal court records for city ordinance violations are kept at 410 West Washington Avenue, not at the main courthouse on South Main Street.
Search Jonesboro Cases Online
The screenshot below shows the Craighead County Circuit Clerk's website, which is the starting point for searching Jonesboro court filings.
Visit the Craighead County Circuit Clerk site for direct contact information, division-specific phone numbers, and available online services for Jonesboro court records.
The clerk's website provides contact details for civil, criminal, and probate divisions, letting you reach the right staff member without guessing.
CourtConnect Search for Jonesboro Records
The image below is from the Arkansas CourtConnect portal, which provides free public access to case records for Jonesboro and Craighead County courts.
Search Jonesboro court records at no cost through Search ARCourts by entering a party name, case number, or citation.
The portal shows case status, assigned judges, upcoming court dates, docket entries, and in some cases links to public documents filed in the case.
Arkansas's online case portal covers most circuit courts and some district courts. Craighead County is among the participating courts, so a wide range of Jonesboro case types are searchable. The system replaced the older CourtConnect interface. You can search by party name, business name, case number, case type, or citation. There is no fee to search. Juvenile records, sealed files, and expunged cases won't appear. Cases from before January 1, 2009 may have limited digital detail.
Federal Court in Jonesboro
Jonesboro is one of three division cities for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. The main office is in Little Rock, with divisions in Jonesboro and Pine Bluff. Federal cases in the Jonesboro area - federal criminal charges, civil rights claims, and other federal matters - are filed through the Eastern District. These records are separate from the state court system and are not searchable through Search ARCourts. You need a PACER account at pacer.uscourts.gov to look up federal filings. The Eastern District clerk's phone is (501) 604-5351.
Federal cases don't overlap with state circuit court cases. If you're looking for a drug charge, a civil suit, or a domestic relations case, those are state matters. Federal cases tend to involve federal laws, federal agencies, or constitutional claims. If you're not sure which system has the case you're looking for, try Search ARCourts first, then check PACER if you don't find it there.
Note: The Jonesboro division of the Eastern District federal court hears cases assigned to it, but the clerk's office and most records are at the main Little Rock courthouse.
Getting Copies and Using FOIA
Jonesboro court records are public under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act at Ark. Code Ann. ยง 25-19-101. Any Arkansas citizen can request public records, and the office must respond within three working days. For court records, the additional rules of Arkansas Supreme Court Administrative Order 19 apply, defining what is public and what must be redacted. Sensitive personal information, juvenile records, sealed cases, and expunged files are protected and won't be released in full.
To request records by mail, write to the Craighead County Circuit Clerk at 511 South Main Street, Room 200, Jonesboro, AR 72401. Include the case number, party names, and the type of case. Staff will pull the file and send you a cost estimate before processing. For general questions about Arkansas court records access, the Arkansas Judiciary website at arcourts.gov has guides and a court directory. If you run into a problem getting records, the Attorney General's FOI Hotline at 1-800-482-8982 is the right call.
Legal Aid and Self-Help in Jonesboro
The Craighead County courthouse has courthouse kiosks provided by the Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation. These kiosks are free and allow you to look up cases, print documents, fill out court forms, and apply for legal aid. There are 112 kiosks across Arkansas, with at least one in every circuit courthouse. For civil legal help in Jonesboro, legal aid services are reachable at (870) 972-9224 for northeast Arkansas residents. General questions about the court system can go to the Administrative Office of the Courts at (501) 682-9400.
Nearby Cities
Other qualifying cities in northeast Arkansas near Jonesboro with their own court record pages include these communities.